BBC RADIO 1 PRESENTER CHRIS STARK ANNOUNCED AS COMPERE FOR STAND UP TO CANCER AT UNION CHAPEL ON 31st JANUARY 2019

Thursday 31st January 2019 sees the return of Stand Up To Cancer at Union Chapel. Having recently announced the addition of BRITS Critics’ Choice Award 2019 finalist Lewis Capaldi to the line-up today sees BBC Radio 1 presenter Chris Stark announced as the compere for this very special music event.

Chris Stark is best known as co-host of BBC Radio1’s “Scott Mills Show”, which he joined in 2012. During his time on the show, he has found himself half naked in Liverpool, being spray tanned on air, as well as interviewing Mila Kunis and asking her for a date to the football! It was this interview with Mila that also led Chris to being an overnight international YouTube star and appearing on the likes of Good Morning America and CNN, talking about “that” interview.

In addition to his Radio 1 work, Chris regularly appears on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen as a guest, exploring a range of subjects including everything from cuisine at football matches to Christmas menus at top London hotels. 2019 will see Chris presenting a new BBC documentary series that will take you to the heart of the FA Cup in ‘It’s On The Line’.

Chris will be introducing an array of incredible talent to the stage on the night including; Ed Harcourt, Editors frontman Tom Smith, She Drew The Gun (solo acoustic performance), Lewis Capaldi, The Modern Strangers and Sam Johnson for an evening of exclusive stripped back live performances.

Taking place at the iconic Union Chapel, London, this celebration of fantastic musical talent is all with one intention, to raise funds Stand Up To Cancer, a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 to accelerate ground-breaking research and save lives.

Tickets on sale now through www.myticket.co.uk.

Performances on the night from:

Ed Harcourt

Ed Harcourt has enjoyed a truly unique career as a songwriter, producer and musician. Recently, he’s played piano at major festivals with the Libertines, toured as part of Marianne Faithfull’s band and served as Musical Director for Beck’s Songbook shows at the Barbican.

He has released 7 critically acclaimed albums to date, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album ‘Here Be Monster’ was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize. He wrote and performed ‘The Way That I Live’, the soundtrack to Burberry’s 2014/15 festive campaign, which has garnered over 25 million views and 1 million streams. Alongside his own output, Ed is a prolific songwriter and producer writing for artists including James Bay and Paloma Faith; and producing for Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Kathryn Williams.

His most recent album, ‘Beyond The End’ is his first instrumental oeuvre. Released in October 2018, it was written and recorded at his ‘Wolf Cabin’ studio in Oxfordshire. ‘Beyond The End’ follows on from Harcourt’s 2016 ‘Furnace’s album.

Tom Smith (Editors’ frontman)

Frontman of Platinum-selling British band Editors, who released their 6th studio album Violence, in March 2018 via Play It Again Sam. Tom will perform an exclusive solo set on the night for Stand Up To Cancer at Union Chapel.

Editors’ recent UK tour saw them visit 14 cities in 18 days, culminating in a sold out O2 Academy Brixton on 24th October. The tour received rave reviews including a five star review from Metro who said “‘Stadiums beckon as Editors head for the top” and 4**** from the Evening Standard to name a few. They’ve since gone on to play in Mexico, headlining the 212 Festival in Guadalajara, where they performed to 50,000 people before they returned to Europe to continue their European tour to support the Violence album.

The Autumn tour dates follow a busy summer of live shows for Editors, which has seen them support The Cure at their huge BST Hyde Park show on 7th July, play Manchester’s Neighbourhood Festival on 27th May and headline the Werchter Classic on 14th July, topping a bill that also contained heavyweights Kraftwerk and The National.

Violence is the sixth album from Birmingham’s Editors, and follows 2015’s acclaimed top 5 In Dream. It’s their sixth top 10 album in a row, having scored 2 UK no.1’s and 2 platinum certifications with their first 3 LPs. Alongside their millions of record sales, they’ve also been nominated for Best British Band at the BRIT Awards and been shortlisted for a Mercury Prize for 2005’sThe Back Room.

She Drew The Gun (solo acoustic performance)

The critically acclaimed Wirral band fronted by Louisa Roach, released their second album ‘Revolution of Mind’ in September 2018. The album has already spawned two BBC 6Music a list singles ‘Resister’ and ‘Something For The Pain’ and has since been selected as a BBC 6Music Album of the Year. She will perform an exclusive solo acoustic performance at Union Chapel.

Roach draws musical inspiration from the likes of underground folk legend Malvina Reynolds, Manchester poet Toria Garbutt, and contemporary voices like Kate Tempest, Nadine Shah and Courtney Barnett. Produced by James Skelly at Liverpool’s Parr Street Studios. ‘Revolution Of Mind’ is the follow-up to She Drew The Gun’s acclaimed 2016 debut ‘Memories Of Another Future’, which contained the BBC 6Music playlisted singles ‘Poem’, ‘Pit Pony’, ‘Since You Were Not Mine’ and ‘No Hole In My Head.’ Having recently completed a UK tour supporting The Coral, She Drew The Gun will hit the road in early 2019 for an extensive headline tour, which includes London’s Garage on March 7th. Many of the dates are already sold-out, with the Glasgow gig being moved to Mono, a bigger venue.

Lewis Capaldi

The Scottish singer-songwriter joins the line-up after an incredible year which saw him hailed as a 2018 Vevo Dscvr Artist To Watch, longlisted for the BBC Sound Of 2018 Poll, and win Breakthrough Artist of the Year honours at the Scottish Music Awards. He creates emotionally resonant and beautifully observed songs showcasing his vocal and songwriting talent. His breakthrough single ‘Bruises’ has amassed over 200 million combined streams worldwide. He has toured with Rag’n’Bone Man, Niall Horan, and Sam Smith, and performed at such festivals as Lollapalooza, Bonnaro, Firefly, Mountain Jam, Splendour in the Grass, Fuji, and Osheaga. He has sold out headline shows in both the U.S and U.K and will be heading out on tour supporting Bastille later this month.

The Modern Strangers

Fronted by brothers Max & Archie Davenport, the five-piece first sprang to life in 2017, last year saw them play over 17 festivals, including Leopallooza, Y Not and Secret Garden Party, along with a slot on the BBC Introducing stage for the Katy Perry headlined Radio 1 ‘Big Weekend’.

Following on from the band’s debut EP ‘Meltdown Mechanics‘, released in June this year, the band have been working on tracks in LA with their producer Gordon Mills jr,, just after signing a publishing deal with BMG, coming back and hitting stages across the UK on their first tour, a plethora of festivals (such as Latitude, Isle of Wight, Standon Calling and The Great Escape amongst others) to their first European dates, supporting Flor, including shows in Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam (along with a headline set for Gibraltar’s national day celebrations).

Support for The Modern Strangers has come from across the board including: Radio 1, (Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders also picked them as his Indie Show “Next Wave”), BBC 6 Music, Virgin Radio, Amazing Radio and Radio X and regionally by Abbie McCarthy (Track of the Day on BBC Introducing). They also featured on BBC documentary “The Secret Science of Pop” (https://youtu.be/ewz4yAgQeLs), featured on Made in Chelsea (presently “Nothing On You” is the advert soundtrack), landed numerous Spotify playlists in addition to charting in the UK Viral 50. Their self-proclaimed sound of “Disco, with a leather jacket” keeps going from strength to strength.

Sam Johnson

23 year-old?Shropshire born singer/songwriter Sam Johnson shows his deft talent for writing beautifully emotive and soulful songs. Debut single ‘Perfect Circle’ was crowned BBC introducing Shropshire’s – ‘Track of the month’ giving it a daytime play a day for all of Feb), it also picked up Radio 1 support from Huw Stephens and Amazing Radio as well as online support from tastemakers like The Line Of Best Fit who called it “a heartfelt rumination on?childhood loneliness and the power of imagination”, All Things Go, Indie London, Scientist of Sound and more. Sam recently signed to Universal and will be releasing new music in 2019.

Now in its third year, Stand Up To Cancer at Union Chapel is an exclusive music event hosted at the stunning Union Chapel in Islington, London. The night of music sees award winning and internationally acclaimed artists deliver stripped back and acoustic performances – all to raise funds for lifesaving cancer research. In it’s inaugural year it featured incredible live performances from: Kodaline, James Morrison, Seafret, Dagny and Daniel James. 2017 saw Laura Mvula, Jamie Lawson, London Contemporary Voices (accompanied by Joe from Amber Run), The Beach and Passport to Stockholm take to the stage to Stand Up To Cancer. Radio and TV presenter and long time SU2C supporter Edith Bowman compered both nights.

Tickets on sale now and cost £25 – subject to booking fee. www.myticket.co.uk

Doors: 6.30pm. Music from: 7pm. Curfew: 10.30pm

All profits raised from the event will go to Stand Up To Cancer. Find out more about research it funds –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzKMTOCyPxc 

Twitter: @StandUp2C
Instagram: @standup2canceruk
Facebook: facebook.com/standuptocanceruk
Hashtag:#StandUpToCancer

https://www.standuptocancer.org.uk
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org